Garment hanger



May 6, 1941- .1. s. CROCKER GARMENT HANGER Filed Dec. 19. 1939 Patented May 6,1941

.UNITED STATES PATENT} OFFICE GARMENT HANGER John 8. Crocker, Canton, Pa assignor to Tho Behnar Manufacturing Company, Canton, Pm, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December s, 1939, Serial No. 310,064 2Ciaims. (01. 223-92) p This invention relates to garment hangers; and more particularly it comprises a garment hanger of the coat hanger type wherein a horizontally extending shoulder bar is provided midway or its ends with an upstanding hook for attachment of the hanger to a suitable support. the shoulder bar being made of plastic material or metal, molded, cast or stamped to form a relatively thin walled light weight, strong, rigid structure of generally inverted U-shape in cross section, open at the bottom but advantageously provided with closed rounded ends and a rounded top, said structure being provided with transversel disposed reinforcing ribs brid8 8 opposite side walls and with means for securing the hook to the bar; all as more fully hereinafter set forth and as claimed.

Garment hangers of the type to which the present invention relates are in general use in large numbers in homes and stores, etc., and are usually made of wood or heavy gauge metal wire. lightness is sacrificed for strength. Wood hangers are expensive to manufacture since solect grades of wood are required to give proper strength and finish. The wood must be worked by operations involving much. labor as cutting. shaping, sanding, Joining and gluing, etc. Furthermore the design of hanger bar is necessarily limited when the bar is made of wood due to the grain of the woodand to other inherent characteristics of wood itself.-

Wire garment hangers are less expensive to make since the wire is simply curved to form, and coated or enameled, but wire hangers are not convenient or pleasant to handle and become bent and unsightly with use. The wire although of heavy gauge for strength is still much too small to provide a good grip and when it is endeavored to apply the hanger to a garment, the hanger is likely to turn or swing freely in the hand and the procedure becomes very awkward if not distressing. A wire hanger lacks bulk for easy manipulation and because it is of metal it is not pleasing to touch. For the above reasons and because wire hangers are apt to unduly crease or strain garments supported thereon. their chief utility is as a temporary means of support and for convenience in handling garments, as exemplified by the practice of furnishing a wire hanger with a garment when it is carried from a store, much the same as a paper hanger that is strong and durable in use, is still and strong, is light in weight, is neat in appearance and is convenient and pleasant to use. The garment hanger of the present invention is inexpensive to manufacture and is capable of being made in an almost unlimited variety of shapes and contours. It does not sliver or break readily.

Other achieved objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description ,and' accompanying drawing. In the drawing in which like numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views- I Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the garment hanger;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view;

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken alongline 33 of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows;

- garment hanger as a whole is shown in Fig. 1.

bag is furnished for support and convenience in vhandling articles.

The hanger consists of a substantially horizontal, curvilinear shoulder bar 6 provided mid-way of its ends with an upstanding supporting hook I. The shoulder bar illustrated is made of plastic composition material molded to shape by injection molding of a heat-softened plastic, such as Celluloid. If desired, the bar may be molded by hot pressing of any of the commercially available molding powders with or without added filler. Also the hanger of the present invention may be cast of light strong alloy metal or it may be formed by stamping from a blank of sheet material such as sheet metal.

To provide a smooth uniform garment hanging surface while at the same time maintaining strength, economy of material and lightness in weight, the bar'is given an inverted U-shape in cross section with transverse ribs [spanning or bridging the inner side walls of the U at suitably spaced intervals. The provision of internal ribs gives the bar a cellular structure which increases its strength and rigidity. These ribs have another inherent advantage in that their lower laces present surfaces against which the ends of the l t n pins in the mold in which the hanger is formed, may bear for forcing thehanger bar out of the mold. Thus any disfigurement caused by the pins at the point of contact with the bar is limited to the ends of the internal rib structure of the bar and the relatively thin walled garment contacting surfaces are free of such imperfections which might result if the pins contacted such walls directly. This construction also enables the use of shorter ejection pins than would be required if the pins were to contact the inner face of the top wall of the bar. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 a bar of approximately 16 inches in length provided with three ribs spaced from each other on each side of the middle of the bar has been found to give good results. A greater or lesser number of ribs can of course be employed as. required. In addition,

the ends of the bar are closed and rounded as at 9 and this arrangement gives added strength to the side walls and permits ready insertion of the arms of the hanger in the sleeves of a garment. At the point where the metal supporting hook I is attached there is formed integrally with the inner side walls of the bar, an enlarged blockshaped member or stud portion l which may be either drilled or otherwise provided with an opening for reception of the end of the hook or it may be cast around the end of the hook I during molding of the bar. If desired the end of the hook may be up-set or enlarged as at H and splined or roughened where it engages with the bar to provide a strong joint. Thus the hook is securely anchored and the bar strengthened where downwardpullis greatest.

So formed, the hanger bar although a relatively thin walled structure is substantially strong and rigid and is adapted to support garments without creasing, breaking or slivering. The combination of the plurality of cross ribs and enlarged stud block joining the side walls and top of the shoulder bar together with the rounded closed ends of the bar' provides a reinforced structure that enables the garment hanger to be made oi synthetic plastic materials such as phenol formaldehyde condensation products, urea formaldehyde condensation product, etc.

The invention embodied in the structure described and claimed herein is adaptable for use with hangers of widely varying shapes, and is not to be construed as limited to the specific shape or construction of hanger shown in the drawing.

What I claim is:

l. A garment hanger comprising a curved beam-like member of synthetic-plastic material of thin-walled inverted U-section withclosed ends, said member having an integrally molded transverse strengthening portion on the inside thereof in the middle of the member and a plurality of integral spaced transverse strengthening portions in theregion between the middle and ends of said member constructed and arranged to resist spreading of said walls, the walls of the member and the strengthening portions being free from reentrant portions whereby the member can be withdrawn from a mold, and supporting means fastened to the member at said strengthening portion.

2. A garment hanger comprising a curved channeled bar of molded synthetic plastic material, of substantially inverted-U cross section, a centrally located integral portion of the same material thicker than the walls of .the bar, a plurality of spaced transverse ribs-integral with the inner walls and top of the bar between the middle and ends of the bar to prevent spreading of the walls under load, said ribs being of the same order of thickness as said walls and disposed parallel to the central vertical transverse axis of the. hanger, the walls of the bar and said ribs being free of reentrant portions, whereby the member can be withdrawn from a mold, and suspending means attached to said centrally located portion.

- JOHN S. CROCKER. 

